Steam

Conan entered pop culture long ago when a young Arnold Schwarzenegger (Predator, True Lies, and Twins) took on James Earl Jones’ (Star Wars, Dr. Strangelove, and The Lion King) Thulsa Doom in 1982s cult classic Conan The Barbarian. The film was only the first adaptation of the classic pulp fiction magazines and comics that have been entertaining people since the 1930s. The character has been brought to video game consoles in the past and will soon return in the upcoming game, Conan Exiles, currently available in Early Access on Steam. Like most games these days involving the player taking on a single character, the player has the option to adjust the appearance to suit their own looks or desires. It turns out, Conan Exiles allows for more adjustments than the average game. The following article contains some imagery that is NSFW. You have been warned.

There’s some Half Life 3shenanigans going on over at Valve, some goings-on and flipery-dippery-doings. Yeah, I don’t really know what that means either, but I do know that a resourceful fan of the gaming forum, NeoGAF dug up confirmation that Valve has trademarked Half Life 3 for European markets.

This is just the latest in a series of Half Life 3 tidbits that are all pointing toward Valve finally bringing the third installment of Gordon Freeman’s Odyssey to save humanity to gamers everywhere.

Don’t forget that Valve is working on a box system of hardware to compete with other gaming consoles. What better way to promote the debut of that system then have one of the most requested and anticipated video games of all time as the flag-ship game for that new system.

The storm is gathering, whether we’ll actually get some Half Life rain this time around is still uncertain, but where there’s smoke, there’s fire, and Valve is puffing like Snoop Lion at a concert back stage.

What do you think? Is it finally going to happen? Will it, could it possibly live up to all the Internet hype and expectations?

Valve has been hinting at making a move into the gaming console department, as an alternative to the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One, and this past week, they made an official announcement. Along with a console, the Steam Machine, they’ve also announced that they will be releasing a unique controller, and SteamOS, an operating system geared toward gaming.

A lot of people have been waiting for this console announcement, and it can be a game-changing alternative to those who aren’t necessarily PC gamers, but are sick of some of the shenanigans that come with Microsoft and Sony. Not a whole lot has been revealed about the Steam Machine just yet, but it has been said that there will be different versions of the console, at varying prices.

The console will come equipped with SteamOS, Valve’s new operating system that will be designed specifically for gaming. The Linux based operating system will also be free to download on any other PC, and will also allow users to stream games that are only available on Windows and Mac through the Steam Machine.

To accompany its Steam Machine, Valve’s Steam Controller is also set to make its debut. So far, it’s the one thing we actually have a picture and while the controller’s unorthodox design brings up a lot of questions, I’m intrigued to see how it works. The controller lacks the face buttons that we’re used to, save for a handful around the center touch screen, and has replaced the mainstream joysticks with clickable track pads, in addition to a few underside and shoulder buttons. For those who just aren’t interested in playing games on a console-television set up, the controller will be supported for Steam on other PCs.

I’m not a PC gamer, but I’m really looking forward to learning more about the Steam Machine and how it stacks up against the PS4 and the Xbone. I haven’t been all that impressed with either of the Next-Gen consoles, but maybe Valve can give me and the other “console gamers” another reason to make the move over to Steam.

Yesterday we shared the exciting news that Valve would be releasing new Portal 2 DLC allowing players to easily create their own test chambers. Today, Cave Johnson, president of Aperture Science, released a video explaining all about the new Perpetual Testing Initiative.

What a sad little octopus. At least that octopus won’t have to suffer through what I’m sure will be the agonizing test chambers soon to be created. The DLC will be available via Steam for PC and Mac on May 8th.

If you haven’t yet tried your hand at the Portal games, you’re missing out some of the most fun and ingenious gaming around. Portal and its even better sequel, Portal 2 are basically first person puzzle games, yet so much more. With a captivating and at times hilarious mystery you can only survive if you can solve all of Aperture’s test chambers. Now, if you have played Portal you know how frustrating some chambers can be. So much so you might say, hurl your controller across the room while you curse Wheatley’s name. Not that I’m speaking from personal experience or anything.

WHEATLEEEEEYYY!

On May 8th you to can create your own impossibly hard levels within Aperture with Valve‘s official Portal 2 level creator called the Perpetual Testing Initiative. Sadly, and I’m saying this as someone who plays on the Xbox, the creator is only available via Steam for PC and Mac. But it sounds so cool I think I’ll be checking it out anyway.

Valve says you’ll be able to “easily create, share, and play Portal 2 puzzles” with the new DLC, which lets you publish maps directly to Steam. Other players will be able to browse, vote, and download user-created maps to play in their own versions of the game.

What kind of evil puzzles will you think up? I imagine it would have to involve lots of turrets and maybe a few lasers thrown in to add some deadly circumstances.

What’s Steam you say? It’s a online game platform run by Valve (Creators of Team Fortress 2, Portal, Left f4 Dead, Etc, etc.) where you can buy, play, try out demos of all the latest games and tons of older games. Steam also has a thriving gaming forums to find reviews, tips, strategies etc. Steam has always been one of my favorites, I got hooked by Team Fortress II, convinced by Left 4 Dead 1 & 2, and fell in love with Valve and Steam when I heard the Portal Cake song. It’s just so easy to buy games, give them as presents to friends and family, and check out the latest games.

So now there is no reason not to get online and try out Team Fortress II, it’s FREE for Pete’s sake!

I still remember that moment when Gabe Newell, the main man behind Valve, showing up during Sony’s E3 press conference and saying how the PS3 version of Portal 2 (insert cake is a lie joke here) would be the best console version of the game. How you ask? It was later revealed that the PS3 will be receiving Steam integration, which means PS3 gamers would get updates/DLC the same time PC and Mac users would get their’s and unlike the money hungry Microsoft, you won’t have to pay for the free DLC.

But just in case the whole Steam integration wasn’t enough for you to be convince that the PS3 version would be the best console version, then hopefully the recent announcement will satisfy you greedy bastards. Valve just announced that if you do pick up the PS3 version of Portal 2, you will also get the game for free on the PC and Mac via voucher. Not only that, but the PS3 will have a cross platform feature with the PC and Mac. What more could you ask for?

It’s great to see that Sony has done whatever they can to make this all work as we all know that the PS3 version of the Orange Box was pretty much ass. Of course, me being the PS3 fanboy, I’m happy about this and I will be looking forward to getting me some trophies (can’t help it, I’m a trophy whore).

Last week we (Valve) took delivery of the full-scale level 1 sentry gun, made for us by WETA Workshop – complete with a motion sensor and audio. It’s an incredible piece of craftsmanship that we just had to share with the TF2 community and any visitors brave enough to enter our lobby.

I love the STEAM platform and the games produced by Valve like Team Fortress 2, Left for Dead 2, and Portal. It blows me away that they put it in the lobby where everyone can enjoy it and not back in the corner of some executives office. Valve needs to make the receptionist dress in an Aperture Science Computer-Aided Enrichment Center employee jumpsuit. I wonder if the office ever gets cake?

After so many teases that weren’t subtle, Valve (the lovely people that brought us Left 4 Dead, Half-Life, and more), has confirmed officially that Steam, their awesome digital distribution platform, will be available to the Mac next month. Valve will be treating the Mac 100x better than PS3 users as they will release a function called Steam Play, where PC users who bought games before can also play those exact game on their Mac for free. Not to mention, multi-player will be cross platform as Mac players can go head to head with PC users and maybe the age old question can be answered, who’s better, Mac or PC users. The folks at Valve had this to say:

“We are treating the Mac as a tier-1 platform so all of our future games will release simultaneously on Windows, Mac, and the Xbox 360. Updates for the Mac will be available simultaneously with the Windows updates. Furthermore, Mac and Windows players will be part of the same multiplayer universe, sharing servers, lobbies, and so forth. We fully support a heterogeneous mix of servers and clients. The first Mac Steam client will be the new generation currently in beta testing on Windows.”

I’m happy for Mac fans to finally get some great gaming available to them… of course this just leaves me high and dry since I only have a PS3 and for some damn reason Valve hates Sony’s machine. I swear, if for some odd reason Valve supports Nintendo Wii before the PS3, I am going to go Gordan Freeman on some ones ass.

Boy am I amped up over this! Not too long ago Climax confirmed a new Rocket Knight game for the Xbox Live Arcade, Playstation Network, and Steam services, which made my phallus go to 11. Above I embedded the trailer for the game which has a nice montage of the previous games and new gameplay footage! Not only does it have gameplay footage, but the game looks bad ass! I’m not exactly 100% okay on how it looks and I wish they went a full 2D route, but with the game looking that smooth and fast, I’m still very much into it. If it is anything like my beloved Sparkster… I will cum buckets. Thank you Destructoid for bringing this to my attention. Really, I am very grateful!

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A news and entertainment blog for nerd pop culture. We are vulgar, debaucherous, and funny bastards that pilfer the internet (or interwebz, if you like) for the news you need so that you don't have to. You'll laugh, you'll cry and you'll often shake your fist in an angry fury but your time here is worth the price of admission (which is free for those of you not paying attention)